Padlock.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

`TAMES A. GIESE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ADAMS d: WESTLAKE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS. i

PADLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. i

Patented Sept. 17, 1907.

.Application led April 11,1906. Serial No. 311,191.

To all whoma't may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. GIEsE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Padlocks, of which the following is a specification, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The invention relates to pad locks, and particularly to those in which there is provided a retaining device for preventing the withdrawal of the key when the lock is open. These locks are advantageously used as a safeguard in railway practice for securing switch and signal mechanisms, for if each key is marked to identify the employee to whom it belongs and a penalty is exacted for its loss the liability of accident resulting from an employees having intrusted a stranger or bystander to close a switch which he has opened is much lessened. Those heretofore in use, however, have given unsatisfactory servcie, in some cases because means' could be devised by skilful employees for withdrawing the key when the Iock was open, while in other cases the retaining device has become distorted or misplaced by use, thus rendering the lock inoperative.

The invention has for its object to improve and simplify the construction of pad locks and to provide, in such a lock, a key-retaining device that shall be ei-Iicient in operation and so formed that it is unlikely to become broken or dislodged by use.

The invention consists in a lock comprising a chambered casing, a shackle hinged to the casing, anda tumbler for preventing the opening of the lock by a key other than one of special design formed to co-` operate with the particular lock for which it is intended, the tumbler being attached to the shackle to swing with it and being adapted t0 operate a retaining device to close the slot of the key opening of the casing, through which the bit of the key must pass when it is inserted or withdrawn.

A feature of the invention provides that when the lock is opened the tumbler moves in front of the opening of the casing which receives the point of the shackle to prevent the insertion of an instrument to move the key retainer.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pad lock embodying the features of the invention in their preferred form; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, the front plate of the lock being re- I moved to illustrate the internal construction; Fig. 3 is similar to Fig. 2 but showing the parts in a different position; Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional details taken on the lines 4 4 and 5 5, respectively, of Fig. 2; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a detail of the construction separated from other parts.

The form of lock illustrated in the drawings resembles in general external appearance the well known railway pad lock, and comprises a heart-shaped chambered casing 10, having a front plate 11 secured thereto by rivets and provided with a key-opening 12. A curved shackle 13 is hinged to the casing at l4,and has at its'free end a reduced portion 15 adapted to enter, as the lock is closed, a suitable aperture 16 in the wall of the casing, and which as shown is mortised to be engaged by a locking bolt 17. The bolt 17 is yieldingly advanced by means of a spring 1S reacting between the rear end of the bolt and the wall of the casing l0.

As so far described the lock is of usual and well known construction. In carrying out the invention this lock is provided with a tumbler 19, which engages the bolt 17 according to the customary practice, to prevent its withdrawal except when the tumbler is raised by means of a key 20 of particular form, and which is pivotally united to the shackle 13, preferably to a lug 22 formed on the inner end of the shackle and extending beyond its hinge 14 into the chamber of the lock casing` A spring 23 reacts between the outer end of the tumbler 19 and an appurtenance of the wall of the casing 10 to urge the tumbler forward and to open the shackle.

A retaining plate 24, a portion of which preferably rests for support on the face of the tumbler 19, is pivotally secured to the wall of the casing at 25. This plate is of such form and so disposed that it is turned` on its pivot by the longitudinal movement of the tumbler 19, with which it l'is operatively connected, as by means of the pin and slot 28, to obstruct the key opening 12 of the casing to prevent the withdrawal of the key when the lock is open. In practice it is found desirable, for the purpose of obtaining the required strength, to so form the retaining plate that it extends from its pivotal support beyond the key opening, and it is then provided with an aperture 2G, which registers with the key opening of the casing when the lock is closed and moves out of register with such opening when the-lock is opened. To further support the retaining plate 24 in order to prevent its accidental displacement or distortion, a seat 27 for its lower edge is formed by means of a recess in the wall of the casing 1() adjacent the key opening.

To open the lock a key 2O is inserted through the key opening 12 of the casing and the opening 26 of the retaining plate 24, these openings being in register when the lock is closed, and is turned in the usual way to raise the tumbler 19 and withdraw the bolt 17. When the tumbler is raised and the shackle 13 is released by the withdrawal oi the bolt' 17, the spring 23 advances the tumbler` 19 and opens the shackle. This movement oi the tumbler swings the retaining plate 24 to such a position that its aperture 2G no longer registers with the key opening of the casing, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the slot of the key opening through which the bit of the key must pass being closed and the withdrawal of the key prevented. Furthermore, when the lock is open the tumbler 19 has moved to such a position that it obstructs the opening 1G of the casing and prevents the insertion of an instrument through such opening to swing the retaining plate 24 or dislodge it from its bearing.

When the lock is closed the retaining plate is firmly supported upon the face of the tumbler 19, upon the seat 27 formed in the wall ot the casing, and upon a` shoulder provided for that purpose at its pivotal bearing 25, and cannot therefore be dislodged or distorted by means oian instrument inserted through the key opening of the casing. By reason of the positive connection between the shackle and the tumbler the latter cannot be moved backwardly without closing the shackle; and the pivotal connection between the retaining plate 24 and the tumbler renders it impossible to move the plate independently oi the tumbler and hence, ii by any means the plate were to be moved away from the keyhole it would necessarily close the shackle.

While the support ior the retaining plate 24 is shown as taking the form of a recess in the wall of the casing,

any iorm of abutment which would prevent the plate from being moved laterally will serve the purpose.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a lock, in combination, a chamber-ed casing havingl a key opening in its wall, a shackle pivotally attached to the wall of the casing, a tumbler and a bolt housed within the chamber of the casing, the tumbler being pivotally attached to the shackle, a spring reacting on the tumbler to open the shackle, a retaining plate movable in front oi the key opening of the Casing, and connection between the plate and the tumbler.

2. ln a lock, in combination, a chambered casing having a key opening in its wall, a shackle pivotally attached to the wall oi the casing, a tumbler and a bolt housed Within the chamber ot' the casing, the tumbler-beeing pivotally attached to the shackle, a spring reacting on the tumbler to open the shackle, a retaining plate pivotally attached to thewall of the casing and movable in front ot' the key opening-and connection between the plate and the tumbler.

J5. In a lock, in combination, a chambered casing having a key opening and another opening in its Wall, a shackle pivotally attached to the wall of the casing and havingv a point adapted to enter the last-named opening, a tumbler' pivoted to the shackle and movable in front of such opening, a retaining plate movable in front of the key opening, connection between the tumbler and the retaining plate, and a bolt for engaging the shackle.

4. In a lock, in combination, a chambered casing havingr a keyhole, an openable shackle, a plate movable across the keyhole, and operative connection between the shackle and the plate.

In a lock, in combination, a chamber-ed casing having a keyhole, an openable shackle, a plate movable across .the keyhole. and operative connection between the shackle and the plate whereby they move together in both opening and closingthe lock.

JAMES A. GHC-SE.

Witnesses z EDGAR ANDREWS, TOM. V. EGGERT. 

